Cold To Touch
by supernumerary sam
Summary: Lisa! The cry swept through the walls guarding his mind like they were rice paper. - "God, cybermen." - Jack closed his eyes and slammed the car to a stop. - Ianto wondered if he was going crazy. - "I love you" he whispered, tears flooding his face.
1. The Beginning of the End

**Alternate Title: Jones, Ianto**

**Hey, guys! I came up with the idea for this story while reading "Can't You See Them?" by Ghostfish. My dear twin, debussy88, inspired me to write it down. Check them both out. They're awesome.**

**Disclaimer: Don't…..own….It's….killing…..me. You can tell, can't you?**

Jack nearly skipped out across the Plass for lunch, in spite of the sunlight blinding him as soon as he stepped outside of the tourist office. Today had been a good day, a rarity. The rift had been quiet since ten this morning; and the only adventure that _that_ alarm had announced, hours ago, was a dive into the bay for some strange glove. An easy retrieval, considering the horrors they were usually forced to contend with.

He had actually slept a little the previous night, and the team seemed to be getting along in a general sort of way. At least, the Hub had been devoid of Suzie and Owen's usual biting comments, brought on by their lack of caffeine. Both were too lazy to learn to make anything for themselves, and unfortunately both were night people.

Jack chuckled to himself as he sprang over the pavement. He might have to start setting a curfew. Today, though, Owen had stopped for coffee on the way in, and he and Suzie were milling about the place in peace, instead of on the verge of throttling each other.

He reached the edge of the Plass. Yes, it had been a good day. He had even heard shouts of joy coming from Tosh's desk. Usually all that came from that direction was the sound of furious typing. He figured she had finally worked out the kinks in new program that had been giving her trouble for a month now. Rift prediction, or something like that. Complicated, but it would make their lives a lot easier.

_Maybe we can actually get a start on organizing the Hub now._ The state of it was becoming ridiculous. Hours would pass before he could dig up information vital to a mission. And when he said vital, he meant it. He could start looking for some general support…Nah. They could handle it. Owen wasn't the filing type, but Suzie was good with artifacts. And Tosh had their computer system in impeccable condition, plus she was great with cross referencing. They would make a day's work of the complicated files and archives. _Now when would be a good day? Before the rift gets fussy again-_

That's when it hit him. Hard.

Not like a lightning bolt, that was simple. Too kind. He had been to planets where getting struck by lightning was a must-have for any decent party. No, this was more of a sucker punch to the gut, knocking the wind out of him and leaving him gasping for air. This was more like being doused with liquid nitrogen, freezing him where he stood and sending pain tingling through every nerve.

His vision flickered as one thought crashed into his mind. _**Lisa!**_

The desperate cry swept through the walls guarding his own thoughts like they were rice paper. He crumpled to the ground as the numbing agony of it enveloped him. He dimly saw people's stares wheeling towards him before he was dragged into someone else's consciousness.

_How?_ The question swirled around his head. How could this man be struggling for the door despite the crippling heartbreak and terror flooding through him? Jack was submerged for a second beneath the emotions, feeling a cold doorknob under his scrabbling hand before a crushing choke hold dragged him into the air. Seeing a terrifying sight, a sight from so many nightmares, through desperate eyes.

_It can't be real!_ But he saw the glint of metal, felt its cold grip, heard its harsh voice. The image crawled over his skin like ice.

The shock of the impossible monster pulled Jack out of the man's head for a split second. The bright sky came back into focus, replacing his – _the_ apartment. He fought against a tide of panic. His team. He needed to call his team. He gasped as he felt the man crash into a wall and crack his head against plaster. _That's bad injury. Really bad._ But then, more frightening than anything he had seen, he saw the struggle drain out of those handsome blue eyes.

As the connection dimmed, the fight for control of his faculties ceased. He stumbled to his feet and raised a shaking hand to his earpiece; the blue eyes in his head appealing to his rationality, suppressing his horror and confusion. Whatever was going on, they needed to contain the monster now, before more people got hurt.

"Owen!" He only registered the crowd gathered around him when his voice rang out sharply into silence instead of the usual babble. "Torchwood business folks, move along" he called casually, knowing how close he was to throwing up. They easily dispersed, relieved that this crazy man was the government's problem and not their own.

"Yeah, what is it Harkness?" came Owen's preoccupied reply.

"Possible…" He spat the word out. "…cyberman."

"No…" the doctor choked. "It's NOT possible. How do you kn-"

"No time, Owen" Jack said shortly. "Get everyone in the SUV along with the full trauma kit and get up here now! Tell the girls to pack gear for a _Class 1_ alien threat. And don't forget the big guns."

"Roger that. Don't have to tell me twice." Owen cut out with a buzz of static.

Jack took a deep breath. _Don't do it_, he told himself. _Owen and the others are coming. We'll find him._ He tried to rationalize it._ Opening up your mind only leads to trouble. What if an old time agent buddy is passing by, senses you, and decides now would be a good time to settle the score, drop by and kill you? What if… _He shook his head. It was hopeless trying to resist looking for the man, so he gave up. He closed his eyes and searched for any glimpse of the powerful, shattered mind. Nothing. He was heartsick at the thought that it might already be too late.

Right when Jack was on the edge of having a full out panic attack, the car screeched up. He wasted no time shoving Owen off the driver's seat.

"What the hell is going on?" Suzie demanded, voicing the question that everyone was thinking. He floored the gas pedal as he explained as best he could through clenched teeth.

"You guys read the Canary Wharf file, right? That really-horrible-I-know-but –read-it-now-or-highly-regret-it-later assignment?"

"Yeah" said Tosh in a clipped voice, looking shaken. "Owen said something about a cyberman."

"I...heard…a man being attacked by one." He squealed around a corner to get to the highway, and revved the engine up to 90.

"But you were-"

"No time, Tosh. I'm just hoping he isn't already dead."

"Of course" she replied, looking a little sick. "God, cybermen. They were eradicated!"

Jack veered across three lanes of traffic to the Clarence Road exit, where most of the apartment buildings in the city were. "I don't know how it's here. But give it time to fortify a base and it'll take a hundred lives. Tell the police to cordon off a square mile area and evacuate everyone inside."

"A hundred irritated civilians coming right up. What area should they cordon off?"

Jack closed his eyes and slammed the car to a stop. Flung out with everything he had, praying for an answer. _**Where are you?**_

* * *

Ianto wondered if he was going crazy. _I wouldn't be the first one_, he thought, his mind racing. _There were what, thirty survivors? Half of them committed suicide that first month. Henry, Jeff, Anne, Carol, they all put bullets in their skulls. I'm probably just the last to lose it._

He must be seeing things, because this couldn't be real. He felt a throbbing wrench in his chest as his senses provided overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Lisa, metal shining around her body as it had for months, was advancing towards him. Her eyes were empty.

He took an involuntary step backwards. His shoe squished into half-congealed blood. Dr. Tanizaki's. He looked down reflexively at the body on the floor. Panic trickled in through the shock as he finally realized what those mechanical hands could, and probably would, do to him. But he still loved her. With every fiber of his body.

"The army will be rebuilt from here." A drone voice. She was a slave to the machine. Buried underneath it. He had to reach her.

"_Lisa!_" Ianto cried in anguish. He didn't know it, but his trained mind, in full fight-or-flight mode, instinctively sent the name out over the psychic intercom, so to speak. His distress multiplied the cry's volume a thousand times over until it reverberated through space. One and a half miles away, Jack collapsed under the power of it. Meanwhile her foot thudded into the kitchen tile, a step closer. "It's me." he said, voice breaking. "Ianto."

"You will be upgraded." she droned.

He fought the terror in his body and the fire in his heart and walked over to her, running his hands down her arms desperately. "No! You're still _human_." She remained expressionless. "I love you" he whispered, tears flooding his face now. They didn't matter. "We belong together."

"Together. Yes" she said. It was an alien voice. But a twitch of that old smile graced her face and a spark of eagerness lit up her eyes.

"Transplant your brain into my body." His face crumpled in an instant, as the hopelessness and despair leaped down upon him. Her eyes widened. "Isn't that what love is?"

_No!_ The denial hammered at Ianto. He stared at her, his eyes softening. He shook his head as the word shaped itself in his lips. _No._ Oh how he loved her. "No" he croaked out, and let go of her. The darkness of finally being alone in his suffering swept in. Her voice sounded again, but he couldn't hear the words. His legs were giving out, but he made for the door doggedly. He pushed his hand through syrupy air and felt the doorknob under it for an instant. Then wind swept his face and he felt his feet lift off the ground, too quickly for him to react.

Its hand pressed into his throat, and he shuddered under the hard, angry gaze of a dead woman. He could hear the whirring of gears as it hurled him into his cream colored wall, as well as a loud, sickening crack. _That's probably bad,_ he thought, as the room was bleached of all light. _But I can't fight anymore. _He embraced the black.

**Now for the bad news. The chapters will probably get shorter, and the updates will be few and far between. I'm a slow writer, sorry. *winces* If anyone would like a sneak peek of future chapters, they're yours! All you have to do is give me a little feedback on them! You know, what's confusing, what you hate, how the word ****floccinaucinihilipilification**** would fit sooo perfectly in this one paragraph (yes, it's a word). Couple more things. One, who doesn't love reviews? They're so much fun! Get your opinion out there! Help out fellow writers! (When they're famous they'll owe you favors. The kind that gets you free rides to Europe) Secondly, just FYI, this is my first fanfic. Enjoy!**


	2. A Good Fight

**Sadly, without any ado **_**what**_**soever (a day early in fact), I give you…..the seeeeeecoooond chapter! (Just watched A Knight's Tale)**

Memories floated through Ianto's head as he slumped against his wall, unconscious. He was powerless to stop them.

* * *

"AAAAAAAHHH!" Lisa's bloodcurdling shriek. It was all he could hear. He stumbled along backwards, voice hoarse from shouting for help. Smoke stung his eyes and coated the inside of his chest. He could taste it in his mouth, but he couldn't smell it. All he could smell was blood.

* * *

The UNIT psychiatrist sat in front of him with an entirely too friendly look on his face. Therapy. Please. Wasn't the basis of therapy trying to care for someone? He and his fellow survivors were loose ends, and there was nothing secret organizations hated more. All anyone wanted was for them to disappear.

Though apparently not before extracting all the information they could out of them. And what better time to do this than when the subject was in a dangerous psychological state? It had been minutes since he had limped back to the destroyed tower, exhausted from hiding Lisa. It had only been a half hour since the battle. He had to admit they were good. Even _his_ facade was slipping. And since he was sure that he was a threat to them, the tiniest blunder could be deadly. "That's all" he finished his statement, voice tight.

"That's all? Ianto, you're traumatized. You need to get this out. You don't want to talk to me about anything else?" Ianto almost snapped. He could hear the kindness in the words. He could tell everything. This man would understand. But no. The therapist was a good actor, nothing more. Ianto was better.

"That's all."

The man, face cold now, let him go.

* * *

"So, Mr. Jones, what was your previous employment?" Ianto sat in a bare room, shivering from the cold air blasting right beside him. The lie came easily. He had practiced this. Responding to the name Thomas too. He had thought the Jones part was safe.

"I was a researcher at Shadow Robot in Islington. Very similar to the work you do here, I expect."

"Yes, very" the manager said, clearly impressed. _Just hire me_, chanted Ianto in his head. _There's no way I'm getting into Torchwood Three, security's too tight. Just let me steal __**your**__ technology and get home to Lisa._

* * *

Lisa gasped on the unit. "Is this him?"

"I promised, didn't I?"

"And you always keep your promises."

* * *

Then more recent memories. Very recent.

"I wanted to repay him for helping me. By removing the weaknesses of his humanity."

"What have you done? You've killed an innocent man!"

Oh God. He had to escape it. It was his fault. He tried to open his eyes, drive the tortured screaming of Dr. Tanizaki from his head.

* * *

Ianto's eyes opened. That was unexpected. He shut them again just as quickly as possible. He couldn't take any more. He didn't want to see her as a monster. He put his hands over his ears and tried to bury himself in the hurt again. It wasn't hard. He could feel his body giving up the fight to stay conscious already.

Then he heard a voice. Clear as day, unlike the muffled scrapings of machinery coming from Lisa's room. He blocked out both sounds as fiercely as he could, but the voice broke through.

_**Where are you?**_

Usually brimming confidence and self-righteousness, the voice now had more than a hint of desperation. Ianto didn't have enough energy to question how he knew all this. He just had enough to fight his survival instincts and refuse to answer.

Excited now at finding the object of his search, the voice spoke again. _C'mon…tell me! You don't want to die, right? _

_WRONG_, thought Ianto. He started to clarify, habitually, against his will. _Can't you see my life is already over? I died with her._ He could feel the other's anger at his defeatist attitude. He was too tired to care. "Just leave me, Jack." The name came to his lips without thinking. How could it possibly be anything else?

The response to his plea for abandonment came back equally fast. _No way, no how._ Then, with absolutely no regard for the laws of science or nature, the man dug through his memories and plucked out his address. _That isn't possible_, Ianto would have thought had the pain, physical and mental, allowed him to reason. Instead he mechanically blocked out the bewildering experience.

_We're coming for you_, the voice said comfortingly. And he was comforted.

_But it's nowhere near enough_, Ianto thought. And he allowed the misery to push the presence away and sweep him into unconsciousness again.

Back in the SUV, Tosh, Owen, and Suzie looked on with incredulity. Jack had just pulled over (if you could call it "pulling over") for no apparent reason other than to meditate. Owen leaned over cautiously and shouted his boss' name. No reaction. Owen moved his face two inches from Jack's. Nothing. Except for, a moment later, Jack punching the air in excitement at finding Ianto. Midway through, the punch hit Owen's cheekbone. "Aaaah!" The doctor scrambled back into his seat. Who cared if Jack was in a coma? That was going to bruise. The girls stifled their giggles quickly as a murmur floated through the air.

"C'mon…" Jack breathed, engrossed in some silent conversation. Seconds later his face twisted in a mix of confusion and anger. The team saw determination slowly spread over both. "We're coming for you" Jack said steadily. Everyone jumped as his eyes snapped open and he jerked the car back into gear. "Falcon Drive, CF10 4RE, Tosh. In Cardiff Bay."

"S-sorry?" she gasped out.

"A square mile around that address! That's where he is."

"Who is?"

"Ianto." Jack flicked the siren on, and, if possible, drove even faster than before.

"And he is…" Suzie interjected.

"Injured." He quickly cut off the questioning rise of voices. "That's all I know, besides that there's a cyberman on the loose. Focus people!"

_That's good enough for __**me**__,_ Tosh thought. "Okay" she said, typing fast. "The police have been notified and are grudgingly evacuating people from their homes. What's our plan again?"

"Guns blazing" he responded. "And I'll tell you the rest when we get there. If someone has a clear shot, take it."

"Is that really necessary?" Suzie asked.

"Any shot, _take it"_ he said, in his best no-arguments tone. But it was the look on Owen's face as they neared the op zone that convinced Suzie not to argue. He looked almost scared.

Jack zoomed through the police tape at 60 and fishtailed the car around, popping the trunk in the same motion. "Let's go!" he shouted, already around the back slotting a fresh clip into his gun. It was a model Suzie had never seen before, at least two and a half feet long, but styled like their modern handguns. "How does that work?" she asked quickly, as Jack thrust it into her arms.

"Cock it like a rifle and pull the trigger. And watch the kickback."

Schhick…clunk.

"That's the attitude I'm looking for!"

Tosh noticed two hands would be needed for the gun, so for the first time she forsook her field scanner in favor of more firepower. "I'm ready."

"Good. Got the med kit Owen? When we get in there, get the victim out of the line of fire and do your best work. He'll be slumped against the wall, to the right of the door."

"How do you-" But by now Jack was striding up the rusty stairs to flat 217, resolve burning on his face. They ran after him. Jack was certainly in more of a hurry than usual. But who could blame him? The name cyberman was infamous for a reason.

Jack restrained himself at the door. "Ready?"

Everyone hefted their guns.

He kicked open the door. A scene of carnage met them.

Blood was smeared across the floor and spattered on the walls. The spatter spread out from the head of an attractive man to their right, his face slack. Owen ran to him and began to drag him gently from the room, muttering complicated words under his breath the whole way. The trail of blood, fatal amounts of it, lead to a room next to the kitchen from which grinding metal could be heard.

"Cover all the exits!" Jack shouted urgently. Tosh ran to a grimy window, and Jack planted his feet in front of the door. Suzie began to approach the room, gun held out in front of her. Jack lowered his hand at her. _CAREFUL_, the gesture said.

She reached the door frame. The door had been ripped off its hinges. She heard the crackling of electricity. "Nothing here except…a conversion unit" she reported with dread. "And a body" she finished, her voice flat.

"Suzie, get out of-" A fresh bolt of electricity cut off Jack's order. Suzie collapsed. In her place stood the cyber…thing. Tosh gasped. It had a woman's face. It stepped precisely over Suzie and advanced towards Jack, who was waiting patiently.

"This building belongs to me now." it said. "You will all be deleted."

Jack took the shot. A crackling blue bolt shot towards the monster and hit it full on the chest. It went down without a sound. Tosh regained her breath.

"_Watch it_" said Jack. "I'll check." He stepped carefully forward to examine the body, lifting its arm with his gun barrel, putting a hand over its mouth. He figured it would breathe if it was alive. It had still had a hint of a human voice. "Half converted, I'd guess" Jack told Tosh, with relief in his voice. "But we finished it."

Tosh dropped her gun and ran to Suzie, a second before Jack. His gun slowed him down, but he didn't let go of it, just slung it around his back.

"She needs a doctor!" said Tosh frantically, looking over Suzie's prone body, forgetting Owen ten steps away.

"Let's take her out in the hall. Carefully now."

_Of course_, Tosh berated herself for acting so irrationally. They lifted her and walked over the bloody carpet into the hall, where Owen was leaning over the strange man with a stethoscope. He jumped to his feet to help them as soon as he saw them emerge from the doorway.

"What happened?" he asked urgently, just as Jack started to explain. The captain rolled his eyes and started over.

"Mild electric shock. I think it was trying to neutralize, not kill. It still had a spark of human" he said in wonderment. Then slowly, but without regret. "It's dead now."

"Well…good" Owen said falteringly, checking Suzie's pulse at the same time. Then the full doctor surfaced. "She'll be fine. Probably wake up in an hour or so." Tosh smiled wearily, mirroring Owen.

"Yes, yes, stunningly good job people." They both looked up at Jack in surprise. "But is he okay?"

Owen hedged. Even he could see Jack's anxiety for this guy. "Well…"

"Owen!"

"No need to get touchy. It's just a concussion. Pretty major, but he _should_ live." Jack was relieved immediately. But Owen's face was still. "The worrying thing is that his pulse is more ragged than it should be. I'd say a severe case of PTSD has him giving up the fight. We need to wake him up right now. What was the name again?"

"Ianto" Jack said softly, all his attention on the man again, kneeling beside him.

Owen laid his hand flat on the man's chest, over his heart. "Ianto. Ianto, Ianto, Ianto. Let's go buddy. Up and at 'em."

Tosh barely restrained herself from snorting. She thought hard. _A man's life is on the line. What can I do?_ An idea hit her. "He's Welsh, right?" she blurted out.

"Excuse me?" Owen said, lifting his head.

She paused, hesitating. "He's Welsh?"

"Well Ianto _is_ a pretty odd name." Owen mused.

"So try his native language."

"Brilliant! Who speaks Welsh?" This frank question was answered with resounding silence.

Jack looked up. He had been throwing his thoughts at Ianto as hard as he possibly could; almost as soon as he heard the words "giving up". But he couldn't break through a layer of darkness surrounding Ianto's mind. He knew that darkness all too well, and was stricken by it. Because it was what he felt every time he died. The darkness was pressing in at Ianto from all sides, and Jack couldn't drag him out with pure thought and willpower. Half listening to the conversation, he felt hope. Language. He could access that much. He fought against the barrier, hard, until he found some unfamiliar words. He spoke them, begging. "Réveiller!"

"Well your French is very good Jack but if that's the only language you know-"

Jack cut off Owen's dismissive comment with a shake of his head. He tried again. "Despierta! Abrir los ojos, por favor. "

"Spanish, boss."

Jack closed his eyes and concentrated even harder. He tried German, Arabic, and Japanese. Looks of surprise grew as he flicked through languages.

"This guy is incredible" breathed Tosh.

"Jack?" laughed Owen. "Don't say that to his face. His ego is big enough."

"No, the other guy…Ianto."

"Huh?"

"Jack's getting all those languages from him."

"What, like reading his mind?"

"Think about it. Jack knew exactly where he'd be in the flat."

She was interrupted by Jack's loud cry, now in Welsh. "Os gwelwch yn dda, Ianto. Do!"

She continued. "And _six_ languages? Please. Jack speaks some alien slang and he can say 'Looking for a good time?' in Russian. I wouldn't ask."

"Tosh, you are…totally right, actually. Whoa. He better not be digging around in my head."

"Who would want to spend time in there?" Jack commented dryly, joyful now. "Look! It's working." Ianto's eyelids were fluttering. "Ianto. Dyna ni. Nid ydych am i farw. Dadlau, yn dweud wrthyf fy mod yn anghywir eto, dim ond yn dihuno." Ianto gave a soft groan.

"Right" Owen said, slinging Suzie over his shoulder. "He needs several x-rays, the sooner the better. Let's get back to the Hub. Jack, keep talking to him."

Jack hauled Ianto up into his arms. "Okay" he said, voice wavering from the scare. "We'll have to cleanup later. Tosh, _keep the area isolated_."

"No problem" she said, following Owen back downstairs. Jack fell in behind with Ianto, murmuring in Welsh. He was sure his accent was terrible, but really didn't care. He had to keep Ianto fighting, if only to get a chance to properly talk to him. Jack was still feeling the aftereffects of that first thought Ianto had _subconsciously_ shot at him. Overwhelming fear and pain, yeah, but fascinating strength and love. He was amazing.

"He's amazing."

Jack gave a guilty start upon hearing Owen's voice. When he registered the comment, his face twisted in puzzlement. Since when did Owen so generously compliment random patients?

"What?"

"His subconscious is still fighting. Even while his conscious mind is trying to bury itself under a rock. Otherwise I don't think we could have ever gotten a response out of him." Owen flipped the passenger seat horizontal and gently laid Suzie down. "Kay. I'll drive, you keep an eye on suicidal boy."

Jack let the comment slide and focused on getting Ianto safely into the car. Tosh slid into her seat and Jack stepped in as well, laying Ianto half across his lap and supporting his head. Owen gunned the engine, hearing Ianto regaining consciousness. Jack's Welsh pleas were having more and more effect on the man. He was moaning rather loudly by now, calling one name. Jack was beginning to wonder who this Lisa person was, worrying that she had more to do with this affair than he previously thought. He had assumed that she was the body in the bedroom that Suzie had mentioned-

Ianto's hitched gasp promptly put an end to Jack's train of thought. Owen was driving over rough terrain. Hoarse cries of "Lisa" and "No" quickly turned to whimpers. Jack's alarmed voice rang out. "What's happening?"

Owen shot a glance over his shoulder. "Damn! There must be internal bleeding. We're almost there. Keep him _still_, and make sure his breathing's clear." The car gave a jarring bump as he finished talking, lifting Ianto's torso into the air and drawing a yell of pain from his lips. Jack grabbed hold of him, lifting him off the rattling seat with Tosh's help. He let out an oath as the car shook. Minutes passed in relative silence, each of Ianto's cries drawing winces from the team. Finally, they pulled into the dark garage of the Hub.

**French: Wake up!**

**Spanish: Wake up! Open your eyes, please.**

**Welsh: Please, ****Ianto****. Yes!**

**Ianto****. That's it. You don't want to die. Argue, tell me I'm wrong again, just wake up.**

**AAAWWWWWWWW**


	3. A Few Forever Questions

**Ugh. It's a bit of a late post, I know. But exiciting things are happening! Read on!**

Owen was out of the car and opening the side door before Jack could finish saying "Hurry up."

"Take him this way" Owen said, laying his fingers on the carotid artery. Jack stepped down from the car, Ianto crumpled in his arms.

"Carefully!" the doctor said.

"What about Suzie?"

"She'll be fine for a minute. He needs attention _now_."

Tosh followed behind as they stepped out of the shadows onto the sunny wharf, wind whipping around them. It blew through Ianto's hair, exposing the bloody gash. They hurried into the messy tourist office and down the dim tunnel with the semiconscious man. Ianto shifted ever so slightly as the siren blared their arrival, Owen leading the way to the hospital. He ran the last few steps, clearing an exam table and hurriedly setting up a lidocaine drip.

"What do you need?" Jack asked, laying Ianto on the table softly.

"Just get a blood sample. If he needs transfusions I don't wanna poison him" Owen said urgently.

Jack snatched a needle off the cart and gingerly applied it to Ianto's arm as Owen furiously scrubbed up. "Surgery? It's that bad?" Tosh exclaimed, alarmed.

"I need to repair any internal damage before he loses too much blood." The doctor fixed the IV and jaggedly cut open Ianto's shirt. "Sealed surgery room now people. Clear out." He shooed them away. "And send Suzie in when she wakes up. She has some nursing skills."

Jack and Tosh left reluctantly as Owen snapped on his mask. It had only been a half hour since the captain had jogged out of the Hub for lunch.

Tosh slowly walked over to her desk. She was reeling from the suddenness of the whole situation. Still, at least they had wrapped it up without any fatalities.

As she thought back over the action, she began to burn with curiosity about this mystery man once again. Who was he? And more importantly, what was a cyberman doing in his house? She didn't know where to start. It's not like they had cameras in people's homes, and Jack's phone call about him had come out of nowhere. Her motto came to her. _When in doubt, technology_. Computers were always dependable. _This guy is something else_, she thought. _And I'm going to figure out what._

She booted her baby up and opened the search system. Only a couple of things to go on, but they should be enough. She launched the hospital CCTV and took a quick face shot, trying not to look at the screen. She had no desire to see more blood than she had to. She typed in 'Ianto', and fed the picture through face recognition. Then, less than five seconds later, a hit.

He was already in the database. He had been Torchwood. To say she was astonished was putting it lightly. After a couple minutes of staring at the computer screen, she opened his file with a click. Then she looked at her screen in surprise again.

_This is it_? A couple sentences of background on the man? She was sure that Torchwood, especially Torchwood One, kept much more extensive files on employees. A thought came to her. _If that cyberman was in his apartment intentionally…_and she couldn't think of any other alternative no matter how crazy the notion was…_Ianto must have wanted to stay invisible to us. This file certainly would have done the trick._ She cracked her knuckles and started hacking.

Jack was restless. He didn't have anything to do but wait. And he wasn't known for his patience. Suzie had woken up twenty minutes ago with a blinding headache and no clue what was going on. After running over the situation for her, and finding her pain meds, there wasn't much else to do. He was too apprehensive to work on any of the old reports sitting on his desk. Why? He was slightly troubled over Ianto's condition, but sensing the black cloud around Ianto's mind receding steadily, he wasn't too worried. It was Suzie's insights that were turning over and over in his mind. _She has a knack for remembering important details_, he thought absently. _Would have made a great detective. Or criminal._

She had filled him in on exactly what her brief peek into the small room at the flat had revealed. There had been a cyber conversion unit, like she said, but hooked up to a major life support system, along with heart and breathing monitors. It was advanced stuff. Behind the gleaming unit had been a mundane bedroom, complete with rumpled sheets and a closet full of suits. The bedside table had been crowded with books…and bottles of pills.

The whole thing had actually reminded her of a coma patient's room. Except for the corpse. It was Dr. Tanizaki, she said. Maybe an eighth converted. She had recognized him from a name and picture on a file she had seen over two years ago. Torchwood London had consulted him on…get this…their shoddy cybermen research. He was a leading expert in cybernetic medicine, of all things.

Jack had cut her off here, sending her up to help Owen with the surgery. He wanted time to himself.

Tosh couldn't wrap her head around it. She wished she had never found the original file. It was sickeningly detailed. _Background: born in Cardiff, Wales 1983/8/19, domestic abuse, left home at eighteen years of age, graduating class 2005, London Community College with 2:1, GPA 3.00. _The clean, clinical words had her shivering. The thought of Torchwood One now had her doing the same thing. They had his job history from the time he graduated to when he was hired, details about his parents' deaths, his sister's home address, and when and where he had been arrested for shoplifting ten years ago.

It was obvious why Ianto had fabricated a new file. He had needed to hide everything on the original, from his disturbing past to his impressive resume. _Class: Senior researcher and field agent. Skills: Multiple languages,__basic technology and field medicine, administration, weapons training, cover-up operations, psychic training and infiltration…_The list went on and on. She was intrigued enough to finish the file despite her horror.

She read the last paragraph.

Suzie had finished helping Owen with Ianto's surgery; now they were just waiting for him to wake up. She was on her way to her own desk when she saw Tosh's face. It drew her eyes like a magnet. What was she doing? The technician's expression was somewhere between fear and disgust.

Tosh's eyes flickered across the screen, growing wider and wider with each short line. _Relationships: Girlfriend, Hallett, Lisa (deceased, Battle of Canary Wharf). Psychological Work-Up: damaging family life, depression and survivor's guilt (see Relationships), severely traumatized (one out of twenty-seven survivors of Battle of Canary Wharf), suicidal impulses._

_Noncompliant during statement to UNIT. Stemmed from clinical anxiety and PTSD. __**Unfit for duty.**_

They dared to pronounce him unfit for duty? Just because they had questioned him _an hour_ after his girlfriend died in Canary Wharf and he had refused to cooperate? The file was rubber-stamped by Brigadier General Adrienne Kramer. She was never going to be able to be in the same room with these people again. She had to find Jack.

It never occurred to her that Ianto might have had secrets even Torchwood _and_ UNIT never managed to find out. The file was just too horrifically detailed. Those people must have known everything.

Jack had gone to his office after Suzie's briefing in the boardroom. He was sitting behind his desk, just thinking. _Who is this Ianto?_ His innate trust for the victim was certainly gone. Powerful psychic ability, obviously seriously wrapped up in the cybermen. He _had_ to be Torchwood One, there were just so many connections.

Except that he couldn't be. The adrenaline rush had worn off, and Jack's brain was finally catching up with his body. _No one survived. Not possible. I saw the devastation. Unless…No. UNIT, someone, would have told me. But say, just say that he is a survivor. Did a cyberman find him, following some kind of finish off the rest program?_ The thought made him sick.

His conjectures spun around in circles. _But if __**that's**__ true, how is he still alive, regardless of the original battle?_ he shouted to himself. _Cyberman are lethal, and he didn't have weapons._ He thought back to what he had seen when he had been sucked into Ianto's mind. _Why did it just throw him into the wall? Why didn't it finish him off?_ He remembered the one thought he had gotten from the man. Lisa. That name.

Who was Lisa? How did Ianto get the cyber equipment? What was it for? How did he keep this whole thing a secret? And where did Dr. Tanizaki fit in? The questions ran in circles around his head, making it impossible to think of doing anything else. But he had to do _something._

He ended up, to his eternal shame, cleaning. He didn't clean the Hub, he wouldn't dare brave the teasing that would inevitably come. Instead he cleaned his quarters, brain awhirl. It was something to do with his hands until Ianto recovered enough to answer questions. He cringed at the callous thought, but he _would_ get to the bottom of this impossible maze of events. The cyberthing had shaken him. A lot.

He slowly picked up the clothes scattered around his room. _Tanizaki. He's the key. Why was he there?_ _It doesn't make sense…_

Then, in an instant, he had it. Of course. _Ianto was caring for the cyberman! The life support, the pain pills beside his bed! He hired the cybernetic medicine expert to help the thing. WHY?_

This man was dangerous. He had survived Canary Wharf, must have. He had cared for, strengthened, a cyberman. He had stayed alive beside it, impossibly, and had stayed invisible to Jack. _Invisible_. The captain hadn't had a clue. The sting of betrayal rushed through him. He knew it was irrational. He didn't even know the man. But he had seemed so _good._ Caring for a cyberman…It was insane. Horrifying. It was the only explanation.

Now that he knew the truth, he knew what he had to do. This man was far, far too smart to put Jack at ease. _He's One. And they are not to be trusted._ He calmed down considerably as he reached a decision, though it left him feeling ill. He _would_ get to the bottom of this. In any way possible.

A ringing knock on the trapdoor had him ascending to ground level again. Ianto must be awake. Good. Lifting the hatch he found Owen, as expected, looking very pleased with himself. And…Toshiko?

Owen started talking. "I've called Suzie back in to the hospital to be there when he shakes off the last of the anesthetic, and-"

Tosh cut him off. "Jack, hold on, there's something you should know…" she said, looking faintly scared.

"He's One, isn't he? You've confirmed it?" he said, wondering why it sounded like bad news in his mouth. He should be happy to have one of Yvonne's agents to interrogate. London still had secrets to be uncovered. Tosh was nodding in response to his question, stunned.

"But that woman worked there too, the one he was calling out for on the ride over here-"

"Lisa. I remember. Who is she?"

"His girlfriend." She looked dizzy and pale. "She's dead."

It was Jack's turn to be shocked. "How?" he asked hollowly.

"She died in the battle. The report was horrible-"

"How did he survive?"

Owen looked at him strangely. "There were survivors, Jack. Twenty-seven of them. UNIT gave them a couple therapy sessions each, but it didn't do much good. They were too traumatized."

"You mean they-"

"More than half killed themselves."

"I didn't-"

"Didn't know? I don't blame you for not thinking about it Jack. I would have told you, but you had a hell of a clean-up job to take care of. You didn't need more guilt over the survivors to make it harder. We didn't have the manpower or influence to take care of it, so I let it slide. And you did excellent work with the rest of the aftermath. This is the only relapse we've had. And I'm as bewildered as you as to how it happened."

Jack just stood there. "Tell me next time, no matter what" he finally said. "And we still need to question him." This was directed to Tosh. He cut off her rising protest. "I know, severe PTSD and probably depression because his girlfriend died horribly in the battle. But it has to be done. I'll be gentle." And he would. Shaken again, but more determined than ever, he made his way to the hospital.

* * *

Ianto twitched as he heard the Hub siren above his head. In his mind he was back at the battle, with ambulances and officials minutes away. He needed to find Lisa. He needed to save her. He tried to open his eyes, but the black was pressing down on him with the weight of an anvil. He heard a voice, speaking in Welsh. Terrible accent. Aros gyda ni Ianto. Bron yno. Stay with us. Almost there. He couldn't here the urgency in the voice, just the words. But they helped him.

He remembered that voice. They had moved him, he remembered the ride here. The painful ride here. _Here. Where am I?_

He groggily opened his eyes. "Uuuuuungh." More pain. He hoped this wasn't becoming a trend. There was a man standing over him. Brown hair, buzzcut. "Don't move" the man said. "You're recovering from surgery." A doctor? Somehow it seemed odd. He identified the pain now. It was a muted burning coming from his chest. His eyes flicked down. Stitches. Not good. Really not good. The man's voice quickly doused his fear. "You're fine" he said reassuringly. "Some minor thoracic trauma. All taken care of." He smiled smugly. Ianto groaned again and tried to sit up.

"Oh no you don't" the doctor said quickly, pushing him back down. "Just wait here while I get Jack." He hurried away, leaving Ianto staring at the ceiling. Jack. Why did the name sound so familiar? And the doctor…he was in street clothes. All that had identified him was the surgical gloves. What was going on? He grunted as he pushed himself up and swung his legs over the side of the metal table. If there was one thing Ianto hated, it was being unprepared. Whatever was going on, he would be readier for it if he was sitting up. His speculating stopped abruptly as the whole room came into view.

Torchwood was emblazoned on the wall in black letters. It all came back. _Lisa attacked me._ He moaned. _It's all over. Torchwood's finally caught up with me. Did they kill her? Imprison her?_ Curiously, these questions didn't hit him as hard as he would have thought. _She wasn't human anymore_, he remembered. _She wanted to upgrade me. Jesus._

A voice startled him out of his introspection. "I don't blame you for not listening to him" a tall, dark-haired woman was saying. He hadn't even noticed her. She…that gave him a bad feeling. The woman kept talking. "Nobody does, and I would wanna get a look around too." She was seated on stairs to his left, looking at him curiously. _What do I do?_ His previous experiences with Torchwood came to him in a flash._ Don't give them any information, that's for damn sure._

"Where am I?" he croaked, looking around. He had the Torchwood Three schematics memorized. _This must be the hospital bay. Weapons on the other side of the building. Not good. Really not good._ He would prefer to be armed if this person was with Torchwood.

"Oh, for heaven's sake." Suzie still wasn't sure who this guy was, but if he was smart enough to put together a life support system like that, he was smart enough to read. "You're in Torchwood" she said, pointing to the wall. "You must have heard of it."

_Playing dumb will give me more information than being an overcurious local_, Ianto thought. "What?" he said.

"Torch…wood" Suzie replied slowly. _Let's see where this goes._ She gave him the cover story. "Special ops."

Ianto slowly looked around again, just for show. "Well, I guess this isn't the emergency room" he replied.

"You've got that right. I'll get your clothes." Suzie walked across the small room to the drawers on the opposite side.

Ianto looked at himself. He was wearing a white hospital gown. _Ugh._ Luckily the woman had his own clothes out in a moment. She walked over to him. "Shirt's a bit torn I'm afraid. I got you an extra. Go ahead and change. I won't look." She smirked. Ianto sighed and accepted his jeans and a blue button-up shirt.

Jack walked down the stairs, his eyes fixated suspiciously on Ianto. The man looked…incredibly healthy. He recovered fast. No way was Jack underestimating him. He was buttoning up his shirt, still seated on the exam table with the IV running into his arm. Owen had changed the out surgery anesthetic for a plain old non-drowsy painkiller. Suzie had her back to the man and was talking loudly. "You nearly died from internal bleeding, that's why. Have a concussion too, I'm afraid. Do you remember what happened?"

The man buried his face in his hands. He looked crushed. Jack quashed the sickening feeling rising up again. _He hid a cyberman. Has to be done._

Ianto was replying now, voice muffled. "Not much" he lied. He could remember everything with nauseating clarity. Lisa asking him in a terrible voice '_Isn't that what love is?'_ Then chucking him into the wall. _Then_ he had blacked out, after his heart was broken beyond repair. _Irony is a bitch._

Suzie turned around. "Oh, Jack. Hey. Just recapping for our new addition here." Ianto twisted on the table. Jack. He had heard the name before. Researched it. _Captain Jack Harkness. He's the leader._ And there he was, in his trademark RAF greatcoat with a Webley holstered on his hip. "Okay Suzie. Just-"

"Where's Lisa?" he blurted out unthinkingly. This was a man who could give him answers.

Jack stopped mid sentence in shock. For the second time in ten minutes. "Lisa?" he asked quietly. He hadn't expected the subject to come up quite so soon.

Ianto dropped his head. _What an error. _"Nevermind" he said, words a blur.

Jack pondered. If their Tosh's Intel was false, then there was no point in keeping it hidden. "She's dead" he said bluntly. "Right? Why did you ask?"

Ianto buried his face again. He _wasn't_ prepared for this confrontation, no matter how upright he sat. "No reason" he lied, obviously now. Suzie looked on, face hardening.

"Oh there's a reason alright" Jack said, anger growing with every passing second. "Suzie, take him to interrogation. Now."

She obeyed silently. She knew now that she had misread the entire situation. She thought it through as she grabbed Ianto's arm. _He'd have to be a genius to assemble that unit_, she realized. _And how did this whole thing start in the first place?_ She stiffly escorted the man away.

Ianto didn't put up a fight. He was simply in no condition to. _Lisa must be dead by now,_ he thought dismally. _Torchwood doesn't leave threats alive. Especially one as dangerous as a cyberman. _Suzie hurried him up the stairs and across the Hub.

_And that's all she was to them._

**Cliffie! Mwahahaha.**

**The next chapter is already written, not to worry.**

**Now if only I had some good reviews to make it postworthy…**


	4. The Unendurable

Ianto wondered how it had come to this. He was handcuffed to a chair, and not in a way he liked. Suzie had unceremoniously dumped him in here twenty minutes ago. He could only assume he was being left to stew.

And stew he did. Guilt streamed up as more and more details of the last hour came back to him.

He quickly brought his mind back to the present situation to hold off the pain. Concrete room, check. Bars on the windows, grated door, check. Long wooden table, low bright lamp shining in his face, got that. All very cliché.

The team looked down at him. "He was Torchwood you know." Owen commented unhelpfully. "He'll never say anything."

"I know!" snapped Jack. "He was Torchwood. Doesn't matter."

Tosh sidled up to him. "Jack. You didn't read that file. You don't know what he's been through."

"A cyberman, Tosh. That's all I need to know." Jack was too livid to feel uneasy about what he was doing anymore. _Might as well get to it._ His trump card first. If the man really was trained, then he'd start questioning. He closed his eyes.

Below, Ianto started violently in his seat. He had felt…He didn't know what it was. Almost like a…stab…to his mind. Whatever it was, it was wrong. He fiercely blocked it, shifting uncomfortably, continuing his examination of the room.

Jack hit the wall after ten seconds. An iron hard wall. He sighed, and reluctantly let up. _I didn't really expect anything less._ He stalked down the stairs.

Ianto spotted the two-way mirror after five more minutes of scrutiny. It was set diagonally in the ceiling behind him. Clever. Why wouldn't they just leave him alone? Granted, he had known this was what would happen if Torchwood ever found him, but he was sure that Lisa must already be dead. Couldn't they give him a break?

The captain entered then, hostility just steaming off him. _Apparently not._

Jack went straight to the point. "How did you get that equipment?" he asked softly. Ianto continued to stare at the wall. He wasn't spilling his personal life to these ruthless people. And if they locked him up in a little cell for the rest of his existence, so be it. He had killed Tanizaki. He belonged there. He fought to quash the rising emotions again.

Seeing an answer to his question was not forthcoming, the captain leaned over to place his hands on the table, his face a foot from Ianto's. Ianto kept silent. Invasion of his personal space? Working for Torchwood London had effectively demolished his sense of privacy. They liked to keep a close eye on their employees.

"Don't wanna talk, huh?" Jack said menacingly. "Well there's no help coming for you. Just us, and this room, for as long as it takes." He softened the last words, intimidation dripping from every syllable. "Now, tell me what happened!"

Ianto snorted. He couldn't help it. It was a betrayal to her memory, to be happy, but how could he resist? Jack raised an eyebrow, taken aback.

_What the hell._ Ianto thought. As long as I'm being uncooperative, might as well be definitive about it. Ambiguity had never worked for him. He put on his best sarcastic face. "Terrifying" he said dryly. "Shivers down my spine."

Jack jerked up from the table and spun around to pace, infuriated. He needed answers and he was going to get them. "Who. Is. Lisa" he growled, spinning to face the man again. Ianto forced his face into a cheery grin. "I'm sure that your technician hacked my file and told you" he said, shooting a glance to the fake mirror on the ceiling. "Lisa's dead." He kept his voice as matter-of-fact as he could, denying the pain threatening to rip him open at the statement of this simple fact.

"You spoke of her in the present tense" Jack said flatly.

"I don't know _what_ you're talking about."

Jack closed his eyes to stop himself from punching the man.

Ianto continued casually. "She died over a year ago. I saw a couple people and got over it. Wasn't too hard." Ianto was lying wildly now. He fought to keep his mind on anything other than what he was talking about. _Hmmm._ He remembered something about Harkness. _Let's see if the rumors are true._ He leaned forward conspiratorially. "She was never very much fun, if you know what I mean" he whispered. He watched with pleasure and relief as the captain floundered.

Jack had actually opened his mouth to make a suggestive remark in return before his brain caught up with his body. He closed his mouth with a snap and grinded his teeth. They could both hear faint laughter coming from the ceiling.

Owen was busting up in hysterics. Tosh was trying madly to hold back her own laughter, but she wasn't succeeding. Gone was the fear for Ianto, he clearly knew what he was doing. She was well and truly amazed with this guy now. He had instantly guessed the source of their information, her hacking skills, and was now making innuendos at _Jack. _

Owen was shouting between gasps for air, "Suzie! You _have_ to see this!" Suzie was sulking at her desk, feeling stupid for not guessing the man was Torchwood London and also betrayed by her team members for not telling her sooner. She stayed put while Tosh and Owen cracked up watching Jack struggle for a response. Torchwood One or not, they liked this man already.

Jack shot a glare at the mirror. Fine. Now, no mercy. He started shooting question after vicious question at Ianto. Not only did Ianto keep his composure, he sidestepped all the questions, gave out not an ounce of information, _and_ was dropping innuendos left and right. After about ten minutes, the laughter was still going strong and Jack's composure was totally demolished. He had to use all of his concentration to reign in the flirting instinct. This man was playing dirty, and he had had enough.

"Fine! Suzie, get the man to his cell!" he all but screamed. He knew that this was admitting defeat, but couldn't quite bring himself to care. He didn't know why the man was getting to him so much. He could have sworn he had more control over that side of himself than he had exhibited. And he did.

The real reason why Jack had given up so easily was quite simple. He admired Ianto too. He had from the moment the man entered his head. And you can't interrogate someone you like. Or someone you find incredibly handsome for that matter. Not that Jack was aware of anything besides the last reason.

Ianto smiled wanly as Suzie opened the concrete door. Ha. Lisa had once told him that he had a completely insufferable side. Nice to let it out once in a while. He vaguely wondered why the pain of her death had been so easy to bury during the last half hour. Shock. Must be. He could feel it coming on now.

Suzie unlocked his hands from the chair and relocked them in front of his body quickly. She led him roughly out of the room. He didn't want to lose it in the hallway, so he held off the pain by working. Figuratively speaking. He did a quick analysis of her body language. She was mad at him for some reason. Not hard to see. _Guess she wasn't one of the people laughing. I heard a man and a woman. The doctor must have been the man, there are only four members. Owen…Harper? God they run a tight ship. That means the one member I haven't seen yet is the technician. Toshiko Sato. And Suzie…she must be the main field agent._

He gave an internal sigh of relief as Suzie flicked out a badge and passed it over a magnetic lock. Finally, they were here. Stone cells. Dark and dank. Well, what better place to collapse in misery? She threw him in the cell without preamble. He did a quick check around. Groaned. A CCTV, and outside the cell where he couldn't disable it. _Shit._ He should've expected it. Silently hoping that Toshiko was a nice person, he turned to face the camera. "Miss Sato?" he said quietly in Japanese. "Please don't tell the captain." Then he put his back to the camera and cried.

Jack allowed himself to fume for several minutes after Ianto left. He could almost feel his blood pressure rising. Owen and Tosh were still laughing. _Really? Still? It wasn't that funny._ He slowly forced himself to calm down. He reviewed what they knew. Ianto Jones, Torchwood One employee, had hidden a cyberman and…resuscitated it. Restored it to full working capacity. A cyberman that wasn't really a cyberman. Someone partially converted.

He dug around for anything else they knew. No. That was it. _Nothing_ else. Well, he would let the man sit in his cell for a couple days and then see if he was in a more cooperative mood. He stormed up to his office. He couldn't dwell on this anymore. He had things to do.

Owen and Tosh's laughter slowly, very slowly, died down. Owen gasped for breath. "I can't…believe…he…" He trailed off, stomach cramping. Tosh threw herself back into her desk chair, still grinning widely.

"I know" she responded. "It's like the universe is out of sync." She wanted to know more about this guy, but she had a feeling the file was the best she was going to get. Owen wandered off. To tease Jack, probably. She booted up the cell CCTV. All traces of levity vanished from her face as she gazed at the screen.

**I know. It's really, really, really late. Short also. I've had a loss of inspiration. I may continue with it, but maybe not. Review? I know I don't deserve it. I'm groveling. Seriously. Please?**


	5. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

Hate to break this bad news upon you. Or maybe I'm overestimating myself by calling it bad news and you'll be relieved to be rid of this story. Not that I'm taking it down! I will keep it up, un-updated, until I post something else, to be revealed later in this note. Kay, now I'm just babbling.

Here are the facts: I will no longer be working on this story.

My imaginary response to this: WHY GOD WHY?

Oh, I'm so glad you asked. I'm going to attempt to turn it into a work of pure fiction, and by that I mean edit out the Torchwood. It is going to be a long and hard process, but if you still remember me a year from now you can see the unfinished product at . It will be posted under the same title, but will probably be very different from the original direction I went with this story. Lisa's counterpart character will still die, and Ianto's counterpart will still meet Jack's counterpart under nearly identical circumstances. If that makes any sense. The reason I'm no longer continuing with Torchwood characters is because I don't like to manhandle them. When I write other characters I always feel the need to portray them **exactly **as they appear in the TV show or book, which is pretty impossible. So, I'm trying to create my own characters. Comment with questions or suggestions if you still can bear to be around my profile.


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